Batman: Arkham Asylum

MITCH DYEROn paper, Arkham Asylum was a great idea, if a bit unoriginal. It mashed the best bits of The Legend of Zelda and Super Metroid’s exploratory design with a new branch of the DC universe, and a near-perfect melee combat system. The game surprised everyone.

Rocksteady’s superb combat system redefined melee combat in a way that’s tangible today, but Arkham Asylum's true ace-in-the-hole is its genuinely great and unpredictable Batman story. Sure, it goes off the rails at the end, but Arkham Asylum is full of terrific horror scenes, memorable psychedelic sequences, and a constant, sharp reminder that nobody does a better Joker than Mark Hamill.

Arkham Asylum is a dense, dark, claustrophobic adventure game that’s laser-focused on what it wants to do, and it does it tremendously. It is good that I insisted to my Batman-loving dad that he check it out. After years of not playing games, it got him completely hooked on open-ended action games, the DC universe, and my Batman books. I want those books back, by the way, Dad.